The Second Worst Halloween Ever
by PenningAlways
Summary: When a Halloween serial killer resurfaces, Shawn and Gus take the extremely dangerous case in hopes of catching him. Unfortunately for our boys, it's more than likely they'll end up victims themselves..
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: First off, let me just say THANK YOU! I promise this won't be a long, rambling author's note, but this is my first FanFiction story and I want to thank you for even considering checking my story out! Seriously, if I could get down on my knees (calm down) I would grovel at your feet and thank you personally. **

**Okay, again, this is my first story sooo if I suck… Yeah just tell me, I'll work on it, I've got time to improve.**

**Anyway, the story is just something I wanted to write and finish by Halloween. It's Halloweenie- which by the way is my favorite word to use this time of year. Expect to see it in the story**

**Hope you like it!**

**I don't own Psych. Boooo.**

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"Gus, what is it about Halloween that brings out the best in people?" Shawn Spencer casually asked as he strolled down the sidewalk on the way to the police station.

His best friend gave him a look. "What are you on? Halloween is when people try to scare each other out of their minds with graphic - and very life-like – fake appendages and masks. And little kids take candy from strangers. How is that 'the best in people'?"

Shawn just looked at him. "Pixy Stix."

"What?"

"The answer to your first question. I just can't get enough of them. I'm still on the fence about their efficacy as a hallucinogen, but the buzzing in the back of my skull is making it hard to have good judgment."

"Shawn, those were for the trick-or-treaters!"

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Oh please, who buys candy over a week before Halloween? Everyone knows it's a last minute thing that you're supposed to buy an hour before the kids start to come."

"Someone who needs time to go out and buy more when his friend steals it all."

Shawn just grinned. "I guess I should let you know that I ate all the Twizzlers too."

"You bastard. That's children's candy!"

"What do they need it for? They're already have enough energy from the soda and scented markers-"

Shawn was cut off when he and Gus entered the police station and found it buzzing like the back of Shawn head. Everyone seemed to be doing something, and doing it quickly too.

The police station usually had a constant, composed aura to it. Most of the time, Shawn bouncing into the place gave it the zest it needed, but today, no one seemed to even notice him.

Shawn whistled. "I haven't seen it this lively in here since TCBY was giving away pineapple flavored samples outside."

"Yeah," Gus mused. "And that was a nasty trick by the way."

Shawn shrugged. "It was pineapple flavored, they should've known it was me."

"But you don't mess around with free yogurt Shawn, it's the golden rule."

"I thought the golden rule was treat others as you want to be treated."

"Right. And would you want anyone messing with free pineapple?"

Shawn was quiet. Just then, Juliet passed by.

"Jules!" said Shawn grabbing her arm. "Is there a fire? Some industrial gas leak that may or may not have been caused by Tom Hanks?"

She barely glanced at him. "No, no, none of that. We've just got, I mean, there's a lot of– Ugh, just go talk to the chief! She's with Lassiter." She turned and hurried away.

Shawn looked at Gus as they headed to the chief's office. "Something is most definitely up."

"I'm gonna put my money on escaped convict out for revenge."

"Psh. Amateur hour. Definitely resurfaced murderer back for more."

They opened the doors to the chief's office and both Vick and Lassiter turned to face them.

"Okay what's the dealio, Chief?" said Shawn nonchalantly. He turned to the head detective. "Lassie, looking like a robust stallion as always."

Lassiter already seemed prepared to blow a fuse. "Spencer, will you just listen to the chief?"

Shawn smirked as he turned back to the head of the SBPD.

The chief sighed. "Mr. Spencer, we have a very delicate case on our hands."

Shawn whipped around to look out the window and see the chaos in the station behind him.

"Oh yeah, I can feel the tenderness with which the situation is being handled."

As he said that they all watched their favorite officer, Buzz McNab, step on a woman officer's foot and make her drop her papers right outside the window. She wouldn't hear it as they watched him apologize profusely to her as she stalked off. He then turned to see the four people in the chief's office watching him and smiled and waved sheepishly. Shawn broadly grinned and waved back, making a heart with his hands through the window.

"Mr. Spencer!"

"Yes, Chief?"

"The department is doing the best they can to assist in some way to this case. I hope you'll be prepared to do the same as well."

"Certainly," said Shawn brightly, touching his hands to his temples. "It's Halloween and the spirits are very free and rogue this time of year. It makes it easier to get the strong vibes. Sometimes too strong." He lowered his head and looked up at the chief hardly.

Lassiter rolled his eyes.

Chief Vick abandoned her requests to get Shawn to be serious as it was a lost cause. "Mr. Spencer do you remember anything about a Halloween homicide that took place five years ago? It was before you started working with the department."

"Sorry Chief, I don't remember what I had for dinner last night, any schooling K through 3, and where I was when JFK was assassinated."

"Shawn, you weren't even born yet," Gus interjected.

"Au contraire, Gus, I do remember voting for him in the 1996 elections."

"That was our high school field trip to the Constitution Center!"

"If you two are done, I'd like to continue," Chief Vick said irritably.

"Please do, Chief."

"Five years ago there was a murder of a young girl on the night of October 31st. There was also a murder at the same location, on the same night exactly five years previous. It also occurred five years before that and so on. None of the cases were closed.

Shawn took in all the information. "Okay. And where did the murders happen?"

The Chief took a picture out of the file that was on her desk. "Inside the old Ingham Asylum." The picture showed an old building that – from a bird's eye view- had four long walls that formed the outside of a square. In the middle of the four walls was a patch of land that looked like some type of courtyard. And on the back building parallel to the entrance was a tower that was so tall it seemed as if it touched the clouds.

The Chief continued. "The asylum closed down in 1917 because it was discovered the patients were being mistreated. The owner, Dr. Ingham, was arrested and later killed in jail. The place wasn't touched or heard of again until 1985."

"1985?"

"That's when the first murder occurred. An 18-year-old girl was seemingly hung from the top of that tower you see. The investigation closed two months later with no one found. This has happened every five years since then. All deaths of kids 18 and under, and all died in some way relating to the tower."

"Chief, wouldn't the department have sent officers there to be prepared after the second or third time this happened?"

She hesitated before answering. "Yes, they did, in 1995. Two officers were sent to stake out the scene that night. Neither of them claimed to see anything until the next morning. Then, within the following week, they both committed suicide."

Gus's eyes widened in surprise.

"Let me guess," Shawn said, paging through the file. "Same ending for the police officers the next two times?"

She nodded. "We're asking you two to go watch the place, only this time you won't be sent the night of, but rather a while in advance in case there's something going on."

"Right," said Shawn. He looked back at his partner for confirmation. "We'll take the case. Anything else we should know?"

"Yes. Our killer has never left anything at the scene for us to find, but just today we received a letter that was most definitely from our killer. The note was almost burned to the point where it was unreadable, but it basically said that the sixth was his favorite kill, and no one will forget his night."

Shawn nodded and handed the file back to the Chief. "Seems like such a cheery case, how can we pass it up? I guess we'll be seeing you soon then."

They both turned to leave

The Chief stood up. "Come back when you're fully prepared. I'm not going to lie. This is a very dangerous case. You need to be careful."

"Will do, Chief."

And with that, they were gone. As the duo walked toward the exit with a little less bounce in their step, Shawn gave Gus a serious look.

Gus looked at him timidly. "Thanks for not saying anything."

Shawn turned away but said knowingly, "I don't know what you're talking about, Gus."

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**Ugh, I just realized this chapter was really uninteresting. Sorry. I thought I could make up for it with a cliff hanger, but I think that sucked too.**

**Anyway, if you made it this far, I want you to be my best friend for sticking it out. I promise to be better! **

**Please review! It only takes a couple seconds and it would be appreciated sosososo much by a newbie like me**

**Also it's my birthday on the 5****th**** so help me celebrate by reviewing? **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, so I got a lot more hits than I did reviews, but I can't be mad because, hey, I GOT HITS! That really excites me. You shoulda seen me when I got the notification for my first review on this story. It was great. Don't forget to review!**

**I know the first chapter was slow, but it will get better!**

**I don't own Psych. Booo. Hiss.**

"This is not how I expected to be spending my Halloween," Gus said as he stuffed the last of his things in his backpack. "Or the week before it either!"

"Yeah but look at it this way," Shawn said as he finished loading up his bag too. "Now you don't have to be paranoid about people trying to catch you off guard and scaring you all week."

Gus glared at him. "The only thing I'm paranoid about is those scary office e-mails you send me. In the month of October I'm afraid every e-mail will spontaneously become the screaming face of some horror movie character."

"Come on Gus, you know if I don't send those I'll get killed in the shower by a revenge-seeking doll like little Annie Mae. Then how would you feel?"

Gus rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You're crazy." He grabbed his bag and walked past Shawn out the door.

"Gus! Come on, man, do you really want that to be my fate? Huh, buddy?" He followed him out as the door of the Psych office slammed with finality.

As Shawn and Gus entered, there was a considerably different state of the police station than the one they had seen two days ago. The station was mostly empty, save a few uniformed cops quietly doing work at their desks. The silence was incredible.

"Gus, this is just like your tenth birthday party," Shawn whispered. But in the silence, everyone could hear him and the scattered, noiseless officers looked up.

"Shawn!" some of them called with something of hope in their voice.

Before he could respond, the Chief's voice rang out through the station, calling their names.

"Mr. Spencer! Mr. Guster!"

"Chief, why is the station so empty and quiet?" Gus asked. As they came into her office they noticed Lassiter, Juliet, and Henry standing there looking solemnly serious.

The Chief sighed and sat down. "It's been three days. Some of them were sent home, and others are preparing for tonight." She turned her attention to their backpacks. "What did you bring?

"All the important stuff," Shawn said, shaking the bag for emphasis. "You know, music."

"Handheld gaming systems," Gus said.

"A portable DVD player."

"Seasons one through four of the Brady Bunch."

"A book on sophisticated origami."

"Food. And lots of it. Mostly in re-sealable bags, but still food nonetheless."

"Oh Gus, by the way, when I was packing food into your bag, there wasn't enough bags for the pineapple wedges."

"So what did you put them in?"

Shawn looked at him quizzically. "I should've put them in something?"

"Shawn!"

"Alright boys, enough!" Henry interrupted. "I think you're underestimating the seriousness of this case."

"Now it's gonna be all sticky…" Gus muttered under his breath.

"Dad, he only thing I've ever underestimated is the cost of one of those 50 foot tall giant balloon men that you see at carnivals. And I had that one coming because, hey, who doesn't enjoy a dancing balloon guy? But I can tell you, we'll be fine on this case." Shawn smiled reassuringly to prove his point.

"If you say so Mr. Spencer," the Chief said. "Lassiter and O'Hara will be staking out down the street this first night anyway, so keep them posted every hour on the hour, and don't forget your duty there."

"Aye aye, Chief," As he turned to follow Lassiter and Juliet out of the office, Shawn caught his father's eye. _Don't do anything stupid. _Since when did he start caring? Shawn shut the door with an expressionless goodbye.

Minutes later, he was in the backseat of Lassiter's car next to Gus. Even after getting out of the desolate police station it was still way too quiet for Shawn's liking.

"So are you guys here to babysit us tonight? Because I haven't had a babysitter since I was sixteen and I'm very proud of that fact."

"I feel bad for that babysitter," Lassiter said.

"Thank you for your sympathy Lassie." said Gus. "It's nice to know somebody appreciates what I went through." He glared at his friend.

"Hey, you got paid!" Shawn pointed out.

"In Pop Rocks!"

"Don't act like you didn't love them."

"And I think you owe me five years worth of Pop Rocks now since my business has apparently started up again."

Shawn's face lit up. "Gus! You've given me the greatest idea! Psych: Psychic Detective Agency is now Psych: Psychic Babysitting Service!"

"Why would anyone want to hire a psychic babysitter?"

"You do realize that's the sixth time you've crushed a dream of mine today, right?"

"Okay enough!" Lassiter yelled.

"Lassie, why are you so cranky on this fine evening?"

"Oh I don't know Spencer, maybe it's because I've been working for days nonstop or because the station ran out of coffee today or because I have two goobers who aren't taking this case seriously in my backseat!"

"Lassie, I never thought I'd live to see the day to hear you say the word 'goober'. Or any other human being for that matter. But that's still no excuse. Jules isn't cranky!"

"That's because she took an hour-long nap today." Lassiter said through clenched teeth.

"That is false!" she protested. "So I may have dozed off while the Chief left the station for a little while, but it was not longer than 40 minutes!"

"Don't give me that O'Hara, it was well over an hour."

"It was barely over a half-hour Carlton and you know it! Stop being such a drama queen-"

"Oh _I'm _a drama queen-?"

"Lassie watch out!"

Lassiter slammed on the brakes as soon as he saw what Shawn's cry was directed at. A small figure had dashed in front of Lassiter's car. They were so close it was a miracle he'd been able to stop in time. This was unfortunate for his colleagues, who he sent flying forward. Juliet was stopped by her seatbelt and Shawn and Gus got a face-full of the seats in front of them.

After they'd straightened themselves out, they saw the figure had stopped to watch them on the side of the road. He was barely five feet tall and he was wearing a dark, hooded jacket that hid his face. The way he was holding his pocket seemed like there was definitely something in there. He was only still for a moment and then he was booking.

Lassiter and Juliet sprang into action. Guns a-blazing, they shot out of the car and managed to throw back a, "Stay in the car!" to the two left behind.

"What do you think that was about?" Gus said as he watched the two detectives disappear into the darkness pursuing their person.

"I think Lassie and Juliet are chasing down someone they almost hit with a car."

"Oh come on, didn't you see how suspicious that guy looked?"

"The only thing suspicious was that he was wearing hiking boots. I mean, everyone knows theres no good hiking trails around here!"

"Shawn, it's a hooded man running across a deserted street in front of the only car for miles. And its 10 o' clock at night."

"Whatever I'm just glad they left. I can take advantage of the heated seats." He climbed his way to the drivers seat and plopped himself down.

He turned to face Gus. "You know you want to."

"Damn right I do."

Gus followed Shawn and sat down into the passenger seat next to him.

"Why can't your car be like this?" Shawn asked.

"Shawn, don't even-"

Suddenly Shawn and Gus were jumped from either side of the opened doors by two soundless attackers. Before they knew what was happening, cloth was shoved in their faces and the spots of black disturbing their vision overtook them and they succumbed to the darkness.

A/N: Picking up pace? Maybe? No? Whatever, review and you will make my day


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks again for your reviews and favorites and alerts! They honestly are the best thing ever! I know I updated really quick, but I was really slow on my last update and you guys seem to be wanting more so, here it is!**

**I know I made a few grammar and punctuation mistakes in the last chapter, but I think I fixed it this time. Thanks to my best friend Starsky for being OCD and pointing out all the stuff. ;) hahaha, if you visited my profile you'd get it. Ok, enough, on with the story.**

**I don't own Psych. **

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"Come on O'Hara, he's got to be around here somewhere!" Lassiter called to his partner as his run slowed in the empty field they'd chased their guy into.

Juliet slowed too. "Carlton, he's obviously long gone and I'm not even sure why we chased him for the last quarter-mile anyway!"

"You saw the way he was holding his pocket! I know when someone's packing, and he might as well have just held his gun out in the open for us to see!"

"Speaking of sight, it's pitch black out here and the only light is coming from the headlights of your car that have been on for the past five minutes. I think it's time to head back."

"Fine. But there was something up with that guy, I know it."

"Of course there was."

A few minutes later they arrived back at the car, already prepared for the night to be over.

"They're gone."

Lassiter looked upon Juliet's statement and realized Shawn and Gus were indeed gone.

"Dammit!" he yelled, resisting the urge to childishly kick up some dirt in frustration, "I told them to stay in the car!"

"I'll call them," Juliet said quickly, hoping to get the situation under control before her partner exploded.

Both of the phones were off and Juliet was getting worried now. Even if they had snuck off, they probably would've answered their phones.

"O'Hara." Lassiter's voice called. Was it just her, or did his voice seem a little more troubled than usual?

"What is it?" she came to his side by the driver's side door. He bent over and picked up what looked like a small washcloth that was sitting discarded on the floor. He held it under her nose. She had to step back at the strength of the scent.

He looked her straight in the eyes. "Chloroform."

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Shawn awoke with his shoulder in blazing pain and the feeling that he wanted nothing more but to sleep for a week. Remembering what happened, he sat up and a wave of relief washed over him as he saw Gus was at least relatively safe and laying out on the ground a few feet away.

He didn't know what time it was or how long they'd been out, but he was guessing it hadn't been that long since most drugs couldn't keep you under for that long without killing you. He had realized what had happened as soon as they were attacked, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He tried to stand up tentatively, but his head started to pound and he thought he might black out again so he sat back down. Looking at his surroundings, he noticed they were in a square room, nut the walls only came up about three feet on every side before it turned into a great opening that were like 30-foot tall egg-shaped windows that took up the majority of every side. Looking above him he could see there were at least three large bells above him that made the place look even more eerie.

They were in a bell tower. And he had a pretty good idea which one it was.

Crawling to the front side, he peered over the edge and was greeted by a dark abyss that seemed to be beckoning him into its mystery.

And the odd thing was, he actually felt something inside him that was really _tempted_ him to give in. it was almost too much to handle.

He pushed himself away and the feeling was gone, but a new one replaced it.

Fear. Had he really just been having those feelings a moment ago? It made his heart beat a little faster and his head start to hurt again.

He distracted himself with the candles that lined the ledges of the huge windows giving light to the square room. It was very dim, and a tad ominous. It was then Shawn realized this wasn't an ordinary kidnapping. Of course, the bell tower was his first clue – this definitely didn't happen every day after all.

The thing that disturbed him the most was the fact that they were here, alone in the room. There was nothing. No clues to wake up to or why they were here. He would've even been a little more reassured if they were tied up or gagged. Then at least they would know they were needed for something and they wanted to keep them here. It seemed like he and Gus had literally been thrown into the room. The pain in his shoulder supported that theory. If they were wanted for something, they probably would've been handled with a little more care. This just showed that it didn't really matter if they were okay or not, which was not a good sign.

Shawn was scanning the room for a way out when Gus started to stir. He was laying on his stomach and didn't feel the strength to lift himself up.

"Come on sleepyhead, it's time to rise and shine." Shawn said to his best friend, who groaned and touched his head as if it was hurting him.

"Dude, I thought you were the early riser in our partnership, not me!"

"Sh-Shawn?" he stuttered.

"Yeah buddy! And would it help if I told you our situation is just like _Cube_?"

Gus rolled over. "Are there a bunch of different people with helpful characteristics that will help us get out of here?"

"No."

"Then that doesn't reassure me." He sat up slowly with his hand still holding his head.

"But we were kidnapped and put in a square room!"

"Whatever. Do you know what happened and where we are?

"Do you remember being suffocated with some type of drug in Lassiter's car?"

"Yes. Unfortunately." Gus said with a little bit of acid in his tone.

"What drug could knock us out for a half hour without killing us?"

"I don't know. Ketamine maybe? Or chloroform."

Shawn nodded. "Well my guess is that we were drugged, taken, and thrown in here to an unknown fate. Not necessarily in that order, though it would make the most sense."

"Uh-huh. And where is 'here?'"

Shawn hesitated. "I think it's the bell tower of the Ingham Asylum."

There was a pause. "Okay." said Gus mildly.

Shawn could only imagine what his friend must've been feeling at that moment. He didn't want him to feel any worse.

"We got this Gus. Nothing's gonna happen. I promise."

"Yeah," Gus muttered. "How high up are we anyway?" He made a gagging sound when Shawn pulled him back by his shirt collar as he tried to look over the edge.

"Trust me, we're too high," he said. Truthfully he didn't want Gus looking over the edge in fear of his friend feeling what he had felt staring down at it. The feeling was still terrifyingly lingering on him.

"Okay," said Gus. "What's with all these candles anyway? Just so we're not sitting here in the darkness?" He shuddered a little at the thought.

"I don't know," said Shawn. "But it gives a bit of a romantic edge to the place, doesn't it?" He grinned, hoping to get a smile from his best friend.

Instead he got a glare that looked so enraged it made Shawn feel like he was shrinking. He hardly ever got those looks from Gus.

"I think this is the last place on Earth where you would want to describe something as _romantic_, Shawn."

Shawn inwardly cringed at his words. He hadn't been thinking. He'd screwed up big time by not thinking before he spoke. He'd always done that, but he never thought he would offend someone by it. Especially not Gus. It made him sick to his stomach to actually think he'd said those words and he would've given up anything to take them back.

He'd screwed up so big, he wasn't even surprised when his thoughts drifted back to that tempting ledge of the window that was so close. And how alluring that dark mystery had been…

He realized the desire was back and he cleared his mind to get rid of it.

"I'm sorry, Gus," he said with as much sorrow he could muster.

"How much longer do we have to stay in this godforsaken place?" he said with anguish. He didn't respond to his apology and Shawn didn't expect him to.

Shawn scanned the room for some type of exit. He and Gus had been in here long enough and he wanted nothing more than to get his best friend out of here, but there was no door or any place for a door anyway. They had to have gotten up here somehow, right?

Finally, Shawn's eyes settled on a part of the ground that was outlined and different from the rest.

He turned to his friend with a hopeful look. "I think I found our way out."

Gus turned to him. "What? How?"

"Trapdoor." Shawn gestured to the square in the ground with his thumb.

A look of relieved happiness came over Gus' face and Shawn felt glad he was getting his best friend out of the place that was causing him so much pain.

Just then, there was a knock coming from the newly discovered trapdoor.

Shawn and Gus looked at each other in panic.

After a few more knocks, it turned into a more forceful and threatening bang that seemed to get more and more intimidating.

Shawn and Gus were in pure horror now. Forgetting all inhibitions, they held on to each other and shuffled backwards into a corner letting out girly screams of terror.

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A/N: I hoped you liked this one the best! I know I did! I don't know much about chloroform except it's what they usually use in movies and stuff for those situations. And I don't know if cops are able to identify that stuff or if Lassie's just a chemistry nerd (oh my gosh, imagine…too cute!) but I hope it was at least believable!

**And don't worry, the mystery of Gus' sensitivity will be exposed soon…**

**Review if you love me. And if not for me, then Shawn and Gus.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, first of all, I am SO SORRY! Of course, I wanted to have this done by Halloween, but that obviously didn't happen. My computer was messed up and I haven't been able to write. ****I will continue the story because there's no reason why I shouldn't besides my personal deadline. From now on, I'm not setting myself deadlines because you never know what life might throw at ya. (like broken computers) **

**I hope you enjoy anyway and don't hate me.**

**Psych is not mine. I've only kidnapped the characters and put them in a bell tower for my own enjoyment.**

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Shawn and Gus – still screaming and huddling in a corner – reached their full extent of fright when the trapdoor was thrown open vigorously and a tall figure came up and into the room.

It would've been more terrifying if the figure hadn't been wearing a jacket, tie, and a glimmering police badge hanging proudly on his belt.

"Lassie?" Shawn faltered.

"Yes Spencer, of course it's me. Now you can stop screaming like little girls and get up off the floor." Straightening up to his full height, Lassiter looked like their savior.

Still shaken, Shawn and Gus stood up tentatively.

Realizing he wasn't going to die, Gus came to his senses. "Were you _trying_ to scare us to death? I mean, a simple _knock, knock, _'Hey Shawn and Gus it's Lassie and I'm here to save you' wouldn't have been so hard, right?"

"Gus is right, we thought you were the psycho that put us up here!" Shawn agreed.

"Oh well I'm sorry, next time it won't matter that I save you, it's how I_ present myself _before I save you!"

"We shouldn't need saving," Gus said, standing up tall to face Lassiter. "We were kidnapped out of a police car for God's sake!"

Gus was totally on edge tonight, Shawn noticed. Although, he had a right to be. Even after being his friend since childhood, it was an alien thing to see Gus act out of aggression.

Lassiter seemed to notice too, judging by the quick look of surprise that flashed across his face.

"Two questions." Shawn cut in as he raised his hand. "One, did you catch the guy you ran after?"

"No," said Lassiter with disgust. "He got away."

"Of course he did. Second, where's Jules?"

"I'm down here thanks for noticing!"

They glanced down the opening in the floor to see Juliet looking up at them.

"Jules!" Shawn said excitedly. "Why are you down there?"

"She probably didn't want to partake in scaring the living daylights out of us," Gus said looking toward Lassiter who just glared.

"For your information Guster, she was ready to come up here too. It was just a… vertical obstacle she couldn't overcome," he said, struggling for words.

Shawn and Gus looked at each other, comprehending. It took a second, but the two started snickering.

"So you're saying," Shawn said between very manly giggles, "she was too _short _to climb up here?"

Below them, Juliet rolled her eyes.

"Yes," Lassie said as Shawn and Gus laughed more. And it could've been a tick of the light – or lack thereof – but it almost looked like a ghost of a smile was playing on Lassiter's lips as if he secretly found it amusing too.

"Okay enough!" Juliet shouted. "Can we continue this conversation down here please?"

"Right," Lassiter said. He looked at them seriously as he inspected the room. "Did you get a look at the guy? Were you tied up here? Has anyone talked to you?"

"No, no, and no, Lassie, my psychic senses are telling me our kidnapper was accompanied by at least one other person to get Gus and me up here. And quite possibly a monkey."

Lassiter and Gus looked at him.

"The can be trained," he said matter-of-factly. "Have you never seen the Wizard of Oz?"

"Those were flying monkeys Shawn. They were genetically enhanced and slaves to the Wicked Witch of the West, you know this."

Lassiter started to inspect the place while the two bantered back and forth.

"Gus – no, Gus I can't do this with you right now." He noticed Lassie going to look over the edge of the tower. Remembering the feeling he had, he had to stop him somehow.

"Aahh!" Shawn grimaced as if he was having an extreme vision. Lassiter immediately switched his attention to the fake psychic, forgetting the ledge. It was just what Shawn wanted, but now he had to pull off a psychic vision. "I see… the kidnapper left us in an unlocked room because he _wanted _you and Juliet to find us. He wanted us all here!" He hoped he sounded convincing because he really had just pulled that one out of his rear end.

It appeared he had, because for once Lassiter looked like he actually believed him.

"That makes sense," the detective said walking toward him, sending a feeling of relief through Shawn. "There were no obstacles to get in here and it made finding you easy. Too easy," he added as an afterthought.

"Yes! Exactly Lassie, good job," Shawn said, thankful that he'd gotten away with that one.

"Come on let's get out of here," he said pushing past them. It was only about a six-foot drop but the detective slowly sat and lowered himself down the opening in the floor anyway. Shawn was right behind him, although his exit was a bit more reckless.

"Aieeee!" he screamed as he jumped feet-first through the door Nearly landing on Lassiter, he lost his balance when he hit the ground and stumbled.

Lassiter grabbed his arm and steadied him before he could fall.

"Thanks Lassie. You know the saying goes, 'friends catch you when you fall…'"

Lassiter grumbled and pushed Shawn away.

"But best friends will laugh and tell your sorry ass not to be so clumsy!" Gus called from the upper level.

"Gus! What are you still doing up there you clueless little koala?"

Gus frowned. "Koalas bite Shawn. And you know I hate heights."

"Wow that's amazing."

"What, that I'm afraid of heights? You've known that since we were nine Shawn!"

"No, not that I didn't know that koalas bite they seem so cute and fuzzy and innocent and fuzzy."

"Shawn, stop talking. Where's Lassiter? He's tall enough, maybe he'll lower me down if I step on his shoulders."

"I'm pretty sure he went down the hallway to look for Jules, but don't hold your breath, Lassie takes pride in the way he looks. I learned that when I scuffed one of his shoes and he almost went for his gun. So I think a footprint from your Sketchers Shape-Ups on his jacket would cramp his style."

Gus groaned. "I thought you didn't notice."

"Dude, do you even know who you're talking to? Just do what Lassie did to get down."

"What if I fall?"

"I'll catch you, don't worry honey."

With a warning look, Gus shifted himself to prepare getting down.

Something caught Shawn's attention. In the square room they were in, there were four small windows that were barely noticeable with the large handles that were above each of them. The handles looked like they would be used for controlling something big and heavy outside of the windows.

Shawn went to check out the one straight ahead of him. He put his head out the window and looked up to see what the handle was used for. But he saw nothing but the dark night sky. He looked down and was greeted again by startling blackness.

And again, he felt almost hypnotized to join it. It was unbearable. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he told himself to pull away and when he did the feeling was gone.

He was freaked out by now and he knew it was definitely not his imagination. As he cleared his mind, it came to him.

_Hypnosis. _It was coming back to him like an actual psychic vision. Sitting back against a wall. Watching a pendulum swing in front of him. And an eerie voice chanting in a language he didn't understand. And then a feeling of actually succumbing to the need and taking that final jump. Obviously he hadn't done that yet, but he knew it was supposed to be his destiny.

It took a yelp from Gus falling from the top to bring his mind back to the present.

"You said you would catch me!" Gus said standing up.

Pushing the newfound reality from his mind, Shawn managed to laugh and say, "You know, you shouldn't be so clumsy!"

"I'm gonna kill you Shawn," Gus said, preparing to lunge at him.

"Guys!" Lassiter called, suddenly reappearing down the hallway. He jogged to meet them. "We have to get out of here. Now."

"What? Why?" Gus asked.

He looked both of them in the eyes seriously. "It's O'Hara. She's missing."

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**A/N: Okay the hypnosis thing will make more sense in the next chapter I promise! And I'm so sorry again for the delay!**

**Reviews are most appreciated and loved! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for all the great feedback I got for chapter 4! It was great to hear! ****I love you all and I hope you enjoy chapter 5! I loved writing it and it's the longest so far, I hope it's alright!**

**I own nothing that is Psych. Not even a pineapple.**

* * *

"What do you mean _missing_?" Shawn asks incredulously.

Lassiter rubs his forehead. "I mean missing Spencer. As in gone, lost, there's no sign of her." He sighs and they can tell he's distressed over his partner's vanishing like they are. "We have to get out of here so I can get a radio signal and call Vick. Then we can –"

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Shawn interrupts. "Did you say _leave_? While Juliet's still here and possibly _in danger_?"

Lassiter's eyes flashed in anger. "We have to follow protocol."

"Maybe _you _do." Shawn pushed past him. "Come on Gus."

As he followed behind his best friend, Gus gave Lassiter a disappointed look, which the head detective didn't take kindly to.

"You're coming with me!" he roared. "End of story! I don't like it any more than you do but this is my job and this is what I'm supposed to do."

"Then go ahead, Lassie," Shawn said calmly. "It's your job, do what you have to do. But you can do what you're supposed to do and take us with you to wait who knows how long for help for your partner, or you can follow orders by going yourself and leaving us with some hope that we can find her."

Lassiter hesitated, taking in Shawn's words. The fake psychic looked at him and tried to will him to stay and be loyal to his partner. She needed him and he didn't want him to abandon her. "I didn't see you," he finally said firmly, but with some reluctance. He strode past the two without looking them in the eyes and disappeared down the stairs and ultimately out the door.

"I can't believe it," Gus said. "He just left his partner alone with her kidnapper in here, and he contemplated taking away the only people that could help her!"

"It is his job Gus, he's just doing what he believes is right," Shawn reasoned as the pair started walking as quietly as they could down the unstable, rickety wood hallway. It was the truth, but he really had been disappointed in Lassie. He'd always known the detective was someone who played by the rules – no, scratch that, _lived _by the rules – but the fact that he would abandon his partner in a time of need was disturbing.

"But it's his partner, someone who relies on him! I swear to God, Shawn if you ever leave me in a creepy place alone to fend for myself I will kick your ass. Oh wait," he added in mock realization. "You have done that to me."

"I told you to work the laces Gus," Shawn said peering around the corner.

"Shawn –" Gus started but decided to stop. You had to pick your battles. "I'm surprised at you," he said instead. "You're usually the one to question police procedure and I have to explain the reason to it."

"Well someone has to be the sensible one here today."

Gus' eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shawn looked at him. "Buddy, it's no secret you aren't really yourself right now," he said as gently as he could.

"I'm fine Shawn," Gus challenged.

"Yeah," Shawn nodded. "You're right." He didn't want to argue with Gus right now, it would only lead to more complications. "We need some light." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone, which was of course getting no service. Gus did the same.

"What's that?" Gus asked staring down the black hallway in front of them.

"That would be looming darkness Gus," Shawn stated simply. "Terrifying to some, mysterious to all. I can tell which group you fall into being that you're albuminurophobic."

"You're getting that confused with achluphobia Shawn. Fear of the dark."

"Then what's albuminurophobia?"

"Fear of kidney disease."

"No, no that's arachibutyrophobia."

"That's the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth."

"Gus, don't make up phobias for the sake of sounding intelligent."

"I'm not –"

"Hey, what's over there?" Shawn said changing the subject.

Gus let out a frustrated sigh and walked over to the thing that had caught his friend's attention.

There was a small table at the top of the stairs that had what looked like an old map of some kind on it. But when Shawn picked it up they realized it wasn't a map, but some sort of layout of the building. On one side it was a bird's eye view and on the other it looked more like the picture they had seen in the Chief's office.

Shawn looked it over, paying attention to every detail. "This picture's different than the other," Shawn mumbled more to himself than Gus, but he responded anyway.

"What do you mean?"

"This front view of the building is taken at the same angle as the one we saw in Vick's office. But it's different somehow."

"Looks the same to me."

"I think that was the goal…"

Completely lost on what Shawn was saying, Gus turned away to let his friend figure it out by himself.

Shawn thought back to that day in the Chief's office. He could see the picture clearly in his mind and he tried to compare with what was in front of him. Looking over every inch of the paper, it finally came to him as a loud crash and the sound of a familiar yell reached them.

"Jules!" Shawn exclaimed abandoning the paper and rushing to the room around the corner where the sound had come from.

Gus was right on his tail and nearly ran in to him as he stopped short at the doorway. About a third of the wooden floor that covered the room was gone, rotted away or fallen apart by old age. Of course that third was mostly where the entrance to the room was.

The only person in the room was Juliet, and she was hanging helplessly from the big, gaping hole on the floor.

"Jules!" Shawn called to her again.

"Shawn? Gus?" she called behind her shoulder, her voice full of worry.

"Yeah Jules!" Shawn said. He reasoned that a huge chunk of the floor had fallen away while she was standing on it. It wasn't like Juliet to fall into an empty space in the ground simply by not noticing. He could also see the fresh break in the wood.

He observed the distance between where they were standing and the other side of the room. They wouldn't be able to reach her to get her over to their side. It was a risky jump, but he knew it was either that or let Jules fall, because he could already see her grip slipping, even if she would never admit it.

He started backing up to get a little bit of a running start. He didn't want too much because his steps might aggravate the aging wood even more.

Taking two steps, he launched himself into the air and felt a rush of relief when the top half of his body collided with the edge of the floor on the other side. He managed to pull himself up and roll over to where Juliet was barely holding on.

Looking down, he realized it was a long fall to the bottom. The first floor rooms obviously had high ceilings and it would be a tough collision with the ground.

He grabbed her wrists and looked into her terrified eyes. "I've got you, just hold on." Hearing this, she held on to his wrists tight as he pulled her up and away from the edge.

Both breathed a sigh of relief and stood up shakily. Still full of shock, Juliet looked at Shawn and immediately embraced him in a tight hug.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Anytime Jules," he answered quietly but cheerfully now that he realized they weren't in danger. He turned his head to see Gus, still looking scared and a little awkward.

"Gus! Get over here you chocolate monkey of adorability!"

Snapping out of it Juliet pushed away and worry clouded her eyes again. "No don't! They could still be here."

"Who Jules?"

"There were two guys. They were holding me here and made me sit in that corner." She gestured to a corner where the floor was still intact and a big grandfather clock stood. She hung her head. "And they took my gun."

"It's alright Jules. We'll make a quick exit and get out of here."

She nodded. "Where's Carlton?" she asked curiously.

When she saw Shawn and Gus exchange looks she jumped to conclusions. "Oh no, he's not in trouble is he? We have to find him before we get out!"

"Jules –"

"Shawn, we can't just leave him here! He could be in danger or hurt!"

Her protests only made it harder for his explanation. "Jules, he's perfectly fine. Well –" He looked at Gus. "As fine as he was before this little adventure. He's in the car."

First she looked relieved. Then her expression turned confused. "Why is he in the car?" It seemed like she already understood and didn't really want to hear the answer to the question.

"He, uh –" He looked at Gus again. "We told him to go. He needed to radio for help and get us out of here. I told him he should go. He was, uh, reluctant to let us go find you."

It wasn't a lie, Shawn knew. And he didn't want Juliet to deal with the fact that her partner had left her. He wanted to know that they were all looking out for her, because he knew they were, even if Lassie had made a mistake.

Juliet's expression changed again and now she looked irritated. "Don't ever do that again Shawn," she said sternly. "Don't send my partner away. How would you feel if I told Gus to leave you when you needed him most? I just can't believe he actually did what you said."

"Yeah me either," Shawn mumbled. "Sorry Jules, won't happen again." He knew she would be even angrier if he hadn't just saved her life.

She softened a little and said tiredly, "Let's just get out of here."

"I hear that!" Gus called.

"After you Jules," Shawn said as she was taking off her shoes. "Now it's scary to think about, so try not to do that. It's like a leap of faith. Kinda like Indiana Jones in _the Last Crusade. _But you're not doing this to save Sean Connery's life. But if you believe you are it could give you some motivation!"

Not even listening to what he said, she threw herself into the air and landed with almost all of her body on the other side.

"Or ya know, you could just do that."

Gus and Juliet both smiled at him.

"Okay here I come." He rubbed his hands together as he backed up. "I'm coming Sean!" he yelled as he prepared to jump.

Suddenly, someone coming from another room on his side shouted "Hey!"

Shawn froze and looked to his friends.

"It's them!" Juliet called. "Shawn get over here now!"

Before he could move, a fist collided with his cheek and he fell, hard. He was then picked up roughly and thrown into the wall, harder.

"SHAWN!" Juliet yelled louder than he had ever heard her before. From his position on the ground he saw Gus tell Juliet something and she nodded and left after she gave Shawn a look of worry and scared concern. As soon as she was gone, he saw Gus do something very un-Guslike.

Maybe it was the fact that he was seeing through spots of blackness, or that his head hurt like hell, but it really looked like Gus had leaped into the air fluidly and collided perfectly with the huge man who was approaching Shawn to finish him off and brought him to the ground.

Shawn used all of his strength and stood up just as Gus was thrown into the wall next to him. He helped his friend up as best as he could in his condition.

"Where's the girl?" the giant growled menacingly.

"Long gone," Shawn choked out.

He laughed a deep and disturbing laugh. "Let me guess, you sent her out the back way?'

Gus looked up, horrified at him.

He laughed again. "Predictable. She won't get far."

"If you touch her –" Shawn threatened weakly.

"Don't worry, we won't kill her. Unfortunately, not the same can be said for you two."

With that, he punched Gus in the stomach and kicked him in the side as he dropped and laid still.

"Gus-!" Shawn cried before the massive man punched him squarely in the jaw and he flew back into the wall again.

He hadn't even touched the floor when the giant wrapped a hand around barely-conscious Shawn and Gus' throats and held them against the wall.

Shawn wondered if it was too late to tell Gus he was sorry for taking this case.

* * *

**A/N: Jeez, I surprised myself on this one. Sorry if it was a bit torturous. Maybe I should've put a warning in the beginning of this chapter, but I don't want to spoil anything! Tell me if I should've or not. Sorry again. But I do love my whump!**

**I also hope you didnt think Lassie leaving Juliet was too OOC. It was just meant to be a tough judgment call on his part. Hopefully he'll learn his lesson.**

**Review and tell me what you thought? :D Or to yell at me for being mean to Shawn and Gus D:**

**Oh, and did you see the Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast reference? LOVE that episode!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for all your reviews! Sorry if I haven't been responding to reviews or messages, I'm doing that today.**

**The first part is Lassie musing over everything. I'll warn you, he has a lot of thoughts.**

**I'm glad you guys liked the whump! You inspire me. :)**

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Carlton Lassiter waited outside of his car impatiently. It was parked right across the street for the abandoned asylum, and he felt like the building was mocking him. It was tall and looming, especially the eerie bell tower, which he had been in only several minutes ago.

It felt like it had been an hour since he ran out to the car with a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach to find his car broken into and his police radio destroyed.

There was no chance for help to come with that radio gone. They were supposed to be there all night anyway, and even though they were supposed to call in to the station every few hours, it would be too late before the department would send someone their way.

Of course there was no cell service either. They were in the middle of nowhere and there weren't even any telephone poles.

Lassiter rubbed his hands over his face, every passing minute he was growing more worried.

He thought back to his confrontation with Spencer. He had explained police protocol, but that was something the psychic seemed to never understand.

And sometimes that ignorance of protocol turned out to be the best thing.

He thought about how concerned he was as he looked through the rooms and couldn't find his partner anywhere. How he thought if someone had her, he was going to make them pay dearly.

And what was he doing now? Standing idly by while two people who stood as much a chance against a kidnapper as his grandmother tried to help his partner.

But those two people did have something that Lassiter had left behind when he made the choice to leave the building.

Nobility, courage, _loyalty_.

He had wondered why they did it. Why they risked themselves to stay and maybe find their friend, even if they knew they didn't stand a chance against whoever they were up against.

But that was it, wasn't it? Just because they didn't stand a chance wasn't an excuse to let harm come to someone they cared about.

But he _did _care about Juliet. Very much. She'd been his partner for five years and she always stuck by him no matter what.

And what was _he_ doing? Following _orders _that weren't even given to him instead of saving her.

He'd been standing there for the past fifteen minutes hoping that Spencer and Guster had found her and she was safe.

But who was he kidding? Spencer and Guster could never physically fight anybody if that's what it came down to. They would try to talk their way out of any situation, given the chance. But he had a feeling that's not how these people worked.

Even though he wouldn't know what to do with himself if something happened to O'Hara, he'd be _damned_ if he let something happen to Spencer and Guster either.

He should've realized back when he made his choice, he wasn't leaving one person behind, he was leaving _three_.

But what could he do? The building was huge and they could've been anywhere in it by now. He could also interrupt any rescue plan Spencer and Guster might've had going and end up getting them all hurt anyway.

He thought he heard a crash from inside the building, but he couldn't be sure.

He knew he had to make a decision, quick. He wasn't doing any good standing outside like a mindless idiot, cluelessly wondering if they were okay.

He considered another option. He could drive like mad back to the station and bring back help himself to capture the people behind this. It was sure better than one guy going in to help up against who knows how many others.

But could he get there fast enough?

_It's a risk, _he thought to himself._ A huge risk._

And by the time Juliet's voice rang out shouting a familiar name in the quiet night, he was already gone.

Shawn knew it would only be a little longer until he and his best friend were dead. The need for air was intolerable. He was surprised the huge man hadn't broken their necks yet. He was certainly capable of it.

It really was a shame he had to die this way. At least if he had a gun pointed at him or a knife to his throat he'd have a chance to talk his way out. That really was his only defense.

He really wished he could look at Gus, just to make it easier for both of them, but the strangling was restricting neck movement for the moment.

He hoped Juliet would be okay. She was a fighter and maybe Lassiter would come back for her. He had a feeling that at least she would get out.

_The floorboards they were standing are getting very weak_. Even at a time like this, his mind was still observing.

_Damn you, Dad._

Suddenly, there was a sharp cry and his body hit the ground. He didn't even realize there were no hands around his throat until he managed to choke in some air with all the strength he had left. It felt painfully good.

He turned to see if Gus was okay. His best friend was lying on the floor next to him, eyes wide and struggling for breath.

He lazily turned his head and his eyes set on Carlton Lassiter, angry as Shawn had ever seen him, holding their strong attacker against the wall next to him. He was yelling something in his face, but Shawn couldn't understand what. Frustrated with the answers he was apparently receiving, he watched Lassiter knock the huge man out with a well executed pistol whip.

Shawn knew what was going to happen before it did. He braced himself and tried to grab Gus, but it didn't help. As the giant fell to the floor, Shawn knew it would be too much for the unstable floor to handle.

He saw Lassiter's shocked expression for a brief second before they fell. He had stepped back after he half-threw the man to the ground and was seemingly out of harm's way. The same couldn't be said for Shawn and Gus.

The floor broke away easily. Rotting wood supporting rotting floorboards didn't usually make a stable structure. Shawn tried to grab something as the ground fell out under him but his body didn't cooperate.

The fall seemed to take forever. He remembered how far down it had looked when he'd seen it earlier. It seemed even higher now.

_God, this isn't the end, is it? Surviving strangulation only to fall to our deaths?_

He couldn't talk his way out of this one either. _Come to think of it,_ he realized, _there_ _weren't a lot of deaths you _could_ talk yourself out of._

His body finally hit something solid. The impact wasn't as hard as he expected, he definitely didn't land on the floor, but some type of cot which made him roll off uncomfortably onto the floor.

_That could've been a lot worse_, he thought to himself. He noticed he did land on some type of small bed. It looked like a hospital bed and the room seemed to be full of them.

"Gus?" Shawn managed to choke out. He could still feel the man's steel grip around his windpipe.

"Over here." Came the pained answer.

Shawn tried to pull himself off his back and out of the awkward slouched position he was in, but it hurt too much. Looking under the bed though, he could see Gus, a few feet away in a broken cot that seemed to have collapsed when he fell on it.

"Nice landing buddy, you could totally be Jason Bourne's stuntman." When Gus looked at him Shawn could see he was bleeding pretty badly out of his nose.

I don't think he ever fell through a floor Shawn."

"Point taken." He grunted in pain as he tried and failed again to move from his uncomfortable position. "Where's Lassie? Shouldn't he be by our sides nursing our wounds by now?"

"I think the only thing that man's ever nursed is a grudge."

As if on cue, they could hear the distinctive sound of the head detective's dress shoes.

"Dude pretend to be dead, he'll totally feel guilty."

"I will not do that Shawn!"

"Killjoy."

"Spencer! Guster!" Lassiter called running into the room. "My God…"

"What? Messy? I know, but if we knew we were having guests Gus and I would've tidied up."

Shawn noticed his jokes were less funny when his voice was choked and painful.

Seeing Shawn and Gus, Lassiter holstered his weapon and bent down to their level.

"Any injuries?"

"What do you think?" Gus said using his best 'duh' voice.

"Gus, simmer." Shawn said using his controlling voice. "Lassie did just save our lives after all."

"Our lives wouldn't need saving if – okay, never mind. I just want to get out of this afflictive bed."

Lassiter gave him a hand. As he did Shawn gave him a curious look.

"Eighth grade vocab?"

"You know that's right."

Gus leaned on one of the bedposts for support and tried to check out his bleeding nose.

Not many people knew this, but Gus hated the sight of his own blood more than the sight of other people's blood. Something about his own body fluids being on the outside. Shawn remembered one time when they were eleven and Shawn suggested becoming blood brothers. Gus cried and wouldn't talk to him for days.

"Hang in there buddy," Shawn said.

"Broken?" Lassiter questioned.

"No," Gus said, a little more shaken now. "I think my wrist is messed up though."

"Dude if you let anyone else sign your cast before me I will erase all of your Cake Boss from the DVR."

"Shawn, you recorded Cake Boss."

"Oh yeah." Shawn's face lit up. "I still have to watch that. But so help me, _I will_ erase Jersey Shore."

Gus awkwardly laughed and glanced at Lassiter. "I – I don't watch Jersey Shore."

"Then why do you have a pair of Snooki glasses?"

"Shut up Shawn!"

"Oh yeah! Jersey Shore, yeah!"

"Do you two _ever _stop talking?" Lassiter interjected. "You do realize you've just been strangled and fell through a second story floor?"

"We were also thrown around a bit before that, but that's neither here nor there." Shawn added.

"Lassie this is what we do." Gus explained. "We have what some might call a 'traumatic experience' and we get past it with humorous banter. We won't be sulking about our injuries anytime soon."

"Right. But if you must know, my ears are ringing, my head throbs, and I would really like to get up from this position now."

Lassiter offered Shawn a hand and pulled him up a little faster than he could handle. He thought he was going to fall over so he backed up against a wall. He couldn't see anything and his head felt like it would explode. He could also taste blood in his mouth. It hurt to breathe.

When he finally came to his vision wouldn't focus but he could hear voices.

"You're bleeding," Lassie said.

"Yeah Lass, my taste buds made me aware of that fact."

"No, your head."

Reaching a hand to the side of his head he cringed when he made contact. It was so sore he thought he might black out with the slightest touch. But Lassie was right, when he pulled his fingers away, they were stained red.

"Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon enough." He paused and looked over to where their forgotten attacker lay unconscious. "Hold on." He walked over to him.

"You gonna be okay?" Gus asked his friend.

"Yeah I've had worse." Shawn answered. "How bout you?"

Gus nodded. Lassiter returned. "He'll be out for a while, I handcuffed him to the wall. Now where did you send O'Hara?"

"She got away," Gus said. "I told her to go out the back door. But that guy told us she wouldn't get far. They'd have someone at the back door. She didn't come to you?"

"No," Lassiter replied. "And I couldn't get help. They busted my radio."

"So it's just us?"

"Yes. We'll find O'Hara and get out. No lingering to catch this guy. You two need a hospital and it's too dangerous. Got that Spencer?"

But when he turned, Shawn was gone.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you liked it! I don't watch Jersey Shore or Cake Boss, but I have friends that do. And the Jersey Shore "Oh yeah!" thing is something from the show if you don't watch it.**

**I'm gonna try to wrap this up soon since it's way past Halloween and I feel like an idiot for not being done.**

**Tell me if you think Lassie was OOC. The beginning part was long and it was originally a lot longer if you can believe it. I just like looking into his feelings and relationships with people close to him I guess. I don't really think he had anyone else anyway.**

**Until next time!**

**Review? :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: thanks for all the feedback on the last chapter! We're almost at the end!**

* * *

Shawn was struggling to put all of his effort into pushing himself up the narrow side staircase that he'd found in what looked to be a kitchen area. He knew he was going the right way because he'd seen a still-burning cigarette butt left so carelessly atop the stove. Someone had been there recently.

Shawn knew he had to put as much distance between Gus and Lassie and himself as possible. Maybe they wouldn't even come after him though. Maybe they'd do the sensible and more appreciated thing and try to find Juliet instead of him.

He realized he had to go off alone when he'd stood up too fast and almost blacked out. In those moments, a memory came back to him. It was fuzzy and he thought it must be what a real psychic vision must feel like.

He saw a man with piercing blue eyes staring right at him. He was saying things that Shawn couldn't comprehend, but he could see the small flash of orange that must've been the tip of a cigarette. He could almost smell the smoke again.

There was no way he could really be hypnotized, was there? There was no way you could make someone do whatever you want by simply dangling a pocket watch in front of their face like he'd seen in movies. There was another explanation, he knew, he'd just have to find it.

He shouldn't have left Gus though. God knows his friend was unstable enough and now that Shawn was gone, he was sure to break any moment. But he had to do this alone. It sounded bitterly heroic, but Shawn wanted nothing more than to make sure Gus would be okay.

And that's why he had to do this.

God, his body hurt. The kick to his ribs had most definitely cracked a few, and every time he took a breath it felt like he would break. He could also feel the blood that had leaked down to the back of his neck. He wondered if the pain would ever stop.

As he inched his way little by little up the flight of stairs that seemed impossibly long, he stopped as his eyes caught a picture hanging in a frame on the wall.

The picture was the Ingham Asylum, and it was similar to the one he'd looked at in the Chief's office so long ago. It was taken at the same angle, but this picture seemed to be a little older, like it was taken when the building had been in the best shape.

Again, he could tell there was definitely something off about the picture. All three pictures he'd seen there had been something out of place, something different, but not obvious.

That is, unless you had and eidetic memory.

Shawn racked his brain and thought back to all three pictures. He'd been doing those "What's the Difference Between the Two Pictures?" games since he was six – courtesy of his dad – and now was the time for it to pay off. There was something different and he had to find it. He thought back to everything he'd done and seen since he got there. The answer was right in front of him, he just had to find it. Something he'd done. Something he'd seen. Something. Something. Someth –

Suddenly, the door at the top of the steps flew open and an unknown figure was looking down on the vulnerable faux-psychic.

"It's about time you got here."

"Did he say anything about where he might want to go?"

"For the last time, no. I have no idea where he is and why he would leave. He didn't say anything to me."

Lassiter exhaled sharply in kind of a violent sigh. "I hope he realizes how difficult he's making this. Now we have two people to find in this godforsaken place!"

"Calm down. If something was so important Shawn had to leave us and go off on his own I'm 47 percent sure he knows what he's doing."

"That clown never knows what he's doing."

"True. So I guess we'll split up?"

"Absolutely not," Lassiter snapped. "We'll all be separated and lost. It won't do us any good. We stay together."

"Okay," Gus said, frustrated. "Who do we go look for first?"

"O'Hara," he answered automatically.

"Will you stop to think for a minute? You can't let your feelings toward Shawn get in the way of your judgment. Just because you don't like him and you feel like this is some sort of redemption for leaving her in the first place, you need to make an educated decision. Unlike you, I can honestly say I care about both of them!"

Lassiter didn't like seeing the man this emotional. Nothing was supposed to be serious when he and Spencer were around. Now it was all serious.

He knew what Guster said was true. He did care for both of the missing people, but he wasn't head detective, and he didn't have the authority to make that decision.

"This is my case Guster –"

He laughed almost manically. "You still think this is about the _case? _Our partners are _missing _Lassiter! You said it yourself, we need to get them and get out! This isn't a case anymore, it's getting us and our partners out alive!" His voice calmed a little. "I didn't want to take this case in the first place. He wouldn't listen. He did this for me. He thought it would help…"

Lassiter wondered whether the distraught man was talking to him anymore.

He looked up and met his eyes. "I'm closer to this case than you might think. Shawn knows better than to leave me here alone. I am so unbelievably angry at him right now."

His clam demeanor and harsh words was beginning to frighten Lassiter. He didn't want to ask what Guster meant by what he said.

"We have to go after O'Hara," he said reasonably. He almost regretted it when Gus aimed an impossibly fierce glare at him. Even though he was angrier than Lassiter had ever seen him at Spencer, he obviously still cared. "Spencer may be injured and bleeding, but at least we know he's alive," he explained.

The words hurt him as he spoke them. His partner was alive. She had to be. She was tough, he believed in her.

Gus seemed to realize the truth too as he softened and agreed to go after Juliet.

Lassiter honestly pitied Spencer when Guster caught up with him.

Shawn gasped for breath as he was thrown into an armchair in the corner of the room.

After being dragged by his shirt collar the rest of the way up the stairs, his body hurt even more and his neck was killing him.

He turned uncomfortably to face the man.

He was short. About 5'9 with gray hair and round glasses. Shawn really thought he looked like some kind of evil scientist. He even had the manic grin.

"Hello Mr. Psychic," he said in what could only be described as a hungry voice.

"Hello Dr. Frankenstein," Shawn responded in a pained voice.

"What?" the man said, although the crazed expression never left his face.

"Sorry. You just look like what I imagine Dr. Frankenstein would look like. Small guy, insanity showing in his appearance, probably not much of a love life – agh!"

The man's hands were suddenly clenched around his throat and, again, he thought he would pass out from the pain.

"Don't speak," he breathed furiously in his face. Shawn could smell the cigarettes.

He made a gagging sound in response and the man let go. At this point, he couldn't speak if he wanted to. He gasped for breath for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

The man backed up and grinned. "You're right about the doctor part. Dr. Edwin Ingham at your service."

If he could find his voice, Shawn probably would've made some remark about the name Edwin, but he realized something else.

It was like the doctor read his mind. "Oh how silly of me," he chucked. "You're probably so confused. Yes, Dr. Edwin Ingham did die many years ago in prison. I am his son. Dr. Edwin Ingham Jr. And I am very pleased to meet your acquaintance."

Shawn just stared.

"Yes, yes. How do I know you? Well you see, I read the paper. Mostly the funnies and sometimes the obituaries, but _you. _You caught my eye Mr. Spencer. A _psychic detective. _Well you can imagine I was fascinated because, like my father, I dabble in arts that some might call other-worldly." He stopped to sit in the chair right next to Shawn. He looked him over like he was some kind of prize. "Hypnosis. But you must know this already. You're a psychic! You had a vision of me hypnotizing you, am I right? Am I right?"

He nearly shook Shawn out of his chair trying to get his answer. This man was crazy, he knew. And he would just have to play along.

"R–right."

"Fascinating!"

Shawn looked at him furiously. "You've been doing this for decades."

"That's right," he said with a smile, as if Shawn was praising him.

That just made him angrier. "So would you remember a girl named Jessie Kravens?"

Ingham looked puzzled. "I don't bother with the names of my experiments. I test my powers every few years and move on. Names are trivial."

He was yelling now. "Jessie Kravens! 1995! Beautiful girl! Long black hair, big smile, and family and friends that loved her to pieces. She loved life and everyone knew she would never take her own. Remember that?"

He acted as if Shawn was trying to make civil conversation. "Oh, yes! 1995, I remember!" He sighed. "Pretty girl. I remember one of my men got a little too aggressive right before she was finished. She didn't deserve to be violated like that."

"Damn right she didn't!"

Shawn decided to take a risk. "I know a lot more than you think I do."

The doctor looked at him.

"I know your secret."

He hoped this would go over well. The doctor had basically just admitted he "hypnotized" him before Shawn said he had a vision. Shawn still believed it wasn't hypnosis and he hoped to get the real way by pretending to know.

But it didn't go over so well.

The doctor's psychotically cheerful face turned to rage in a second. "You really shouldn't have said that. It really is too bad you had to have that psychic vision." He stood up and suddenly looked a lot bigger than before. "But you can't control them right? It's not your fault." He sighed. "God, I wanted to meet you so bad. And you knew that didn't you? Even without a vision, you could tell I wanted you by the cigarette I left."

He got very close to Shawn with hands leaning on both sides of the armchair. "I couldn't wait. You were going to become my next experiment Mr. Spencer, one way or another. However, I never imagined the police would send you _right to me!_" He laughed again. "So I'll make an exception and do this before my usual Halloween date." He looked right him with his frightening blue stare. "You're going to die Shawn. And you're wrong. I can hypnotize anyone, anytime. You'll never get over the feeling until you succumb to it. It's imminent. But until then –"

He lifted Shawn up by the collar and carried him to the top of the stairs with more strength than Shawn realized he possessed.

" – good luck surviving. I'd really like to watch."

And he let him go.

Gus was uneasy about their decision. He knew Juliet needed their help too, but he couldn't help being worried about Shawn and furious at him at the same time.

He knew what Gus was going through, and he'd still made the decision to go off on his own and leave him by himself. This place was like hell to him.

And the longer they went without finding Juliet, he got more concerned for her. If anything had happened it would be unbearable.

He and Lassiter had been walking in silence for a while now. They hadn't even gone upstairs because there was so much ground to cover downstairs first. They were about to turn a corner when something rushed at them.

That something was a small, blonde junior detective looking out of breath and exhausted.

"Juliet!"

"O'Hara!"

"Gus! Carlton! I'm so glad you're okay. Where's Shawn?"

"What happened?" Lassiter demanded.

"I – I tried to get out the back door like you said, Gus." She looked at him. "But they were there. Luckily I saw them before they saw me. I got a jump on the one, and the other one had my gun, but he had no idea how to use it and I got it away from him. They're both handcuffed to the wall."

Gus and Lassiter just looked at her.

"What? It's called the police academy. And those classes they offer for women to prevent being attacked. It pays off. And I'm okay by the way. Now where's Shawn? What did that guy do to him?" she said referring to the giant that had nearly choked Shawn and Gus to death.

"He was… stable last time we saw him. He ran off about 20 minutes ago," Gus explained.

"Well let's –"

She was cut off by the sound of a _thud _from another room.

They looked at each other.

"We should check it out," Lassiter said.

They found the room that held the source of the noise, which was some sort of a kitchen, they saw the crumpled body of Shawn Spencer.

"Shawn!" Gus yelled and ran over.

He lifted his friend to his feet. Shawn met his eyes. "Thanks buddy – " He couldn't finish his sentence because Gus started yelling in his face.

"What the hell were you _thinking_ Shawn?"

"Gus, please, let go."

He released his friend, but continued to yell. "You just leave without telling us where you're going and why? Are you an idiot?"

"I'm starting to think maybe I am," he answered. "Lassie," he said, turning his attention. "Upstairs. Insane doctor – murderer guy."

Realizing what Shawn was telling him, Lassiter reacted and ran up the stairs.

Gus looked at him. "Shawn…"

"I'm sorry Gus, I really am. I'm sorry about how all this turned out. It's my fault."

"Damn right it is!"

"I got him," Lassiter said coming down the stairs. "It's a good thing a brought another pair of cuffs."

"Who is this guy?" Gus demanded.

"The killer behind all of this," Shawn answered.

Gus turned to glower at him. "Good. We can finally get out of this nightmare."

"Not quite yet," Shawn said as he slipped out of Gus' grip and took off down the hall at an alarming speed for someone in his condition.

"Shawn!" Gus screamed after him.

"Spencer get back here!"

"You don't have to follow! Go back, call for help! I need to do something first!"

"This is it," Ingham whispered. "The end. My grand finale. And I even get to watch."

"What are you talking about?" Lassiter growled.

"Shawn!" Gus yelled again. They were following him up the large staircase now. "What is wrong with you? We take this horrible case – Jessie's case, Shawn! – and you leave me in the dark and abandon me?"

"I can only say I'm sorry so many times Gus." They were following him to the hallway near the trapdoor entrance to the bell tower now. "I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry for Jessie and her family. I'm sorry that you never got to go to homecoming with her and had to attend her funeral that day instead. I'm so sorry."

With a grunt he pushed down on a heavy lever he was right next to and smiled with relief and satisfaction.

Then he was pulling himself up the trapdoor. The only thing that must've been keeping him going was adrenalin, because in his state, that was almost impossible.

"Shawn! Where are you going?" Gus yelled and followed his friend.

"Stay with him," Lassiter ordered his partner as he followed the other two.

When he got up there, Shawn was standing on the edge of the tower.

"Shawn…" Gus said, extremely worried now.

"Gus it's fine. I'm fine. I promise."

And he jumped.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading hope you liked it! Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Welcome to the last chapter of The Second Worst Halloween Ever! I'd like to say thanks to everyone who took the time to review so far! It's meant the world to me! :) And I want to say sorry for not putting breaks in the page when it was switching from Shawn to Lassie and Gus last chapter. I hope that didn't annoy anyone too much.**

**I've been forgetting to put this, so just in case this is unclear, I do not own Psych.**

* * *

"SHAWN!" Gus' arm reached out to grab his friend even though he was standing at least three yards away, and Shawn was gone before he'd even yelled.

Gus' first thought was that this wasn't real. This was just some awful, twisted, horrible nightmare that he'd wake up from soon.

But, God, did nightmares make you have that feeling that makes you want to throw up your guts and sit in a corner and die? If this was a bad dream, he really had to wake up, now.

He tore his eyes away from the ledge where his best friend had been only seconds ago and turned to Lassiter who was staring straight ahead like he'd just been told he could no longer carry a gun.

He then looked at Gus who caught something odd in the detective's eye.

The signature blazing angry look was still there, but there was something else that was unfamiliar to Gus. It was some kind of inconceivable, hopeless look that vanished quickly as he came to his senses and ran over to the edge.

"Dammit!" he yelled as he looked down. He turned around again. "I can't even see my hand in front of my damn face!"

Gus wondered if Lassie could feel the building trembling or if it was just his world crashing down around him. Then he realized he was shaking.

"You guys what is going on up there?" Juliet called up to them. It was like her voice brought him back to earth. He could think logically now.

His best friend had just jumped off a hundred-foot tower. Just hearing it in passing makes it sound like something his borderline insane friend would do. But when you really _thought _about it…

Gus let out a little involuntary gasp which got him what looked like a meaningful look from Lassiter.

"O'Hara, go check on the other guys we have cuffed downstairs and wait for us," the head detective said steadily.

Gus could almost see the confused look on her face. "What if you need help?"

"We're fine. We just need to look around up here."

"Fine." He could hear the sound of her and the cackling doctor's footsteps retreating downstairs.

Gus didn't look to Lassiter for an explanation. He didn't need one.

He found himself remembering one day when they were ten and he and Shawn wanted to jump off the roof. They had made a foolproof plan, complete with makeshift parachutes and all, but Henry caught them anyway. They didn't do it after that.

_Oh God_, _Henry_, Gus thought. _Who's going to be the one to tell him?_

It took all of his strength not to completely break down. He just wanted to stay in that spot forever and never have to deal with the aftermath or the goodbyes. That's probably why he hadn't moved from his spot. That was where he'd been standing when Shawn was last with him, and moving from the spot would just seem like finality. And Gus didn't want to let go.

"Guster," Lassiter's voice spoke firmly but calmly. Gus looked up. How long had the detective been standing in front of him?

Lassiter sighed. "Why?"

It took a moment for Gus to realize what he was being asked. And when he did, it hit him like a truck.

_I'm being asked _why_ my best friend would throw himself off a tower? As if he might've mentioned it to me a few hours ago that he might go and _off himself?

Off himself.

Shawn Spencer, smart, funny, charming, Shawn Spencer, had just killed himself?

There was no way his best friend who was so full of life would ever do something like that.

He was as sure of that fact as he was when Jessie's death was called a suicide.

He would not let that happen to Shawn.

He looked up at Lassiter. "He was murdered."

Lassiter's mouth twitched. "Guster…"

"There is no way Shawn would take his own life. I know that for certain. That twisted bastard Ingham let you take him, he might even admit it."

Lassiter shook his head. "How would he have –"

"I don't know!" Gus yelled. "What I do know is that my best friend would never kill himself, and if you feel like you got to know him in the slightest over the past half a decade, then you would agree!"

He hesitated. "We – we can't do anything right now. We have a bunch of people we need to take to the station and lots of other things to deal with."

"_Other things?" _Gus said incredulously. "You look me in the eye and tell me that my best friend's _death _wasn't the highlight of our night."

Lassiter looked at him. "I now this is tough –"

Gus almost laughed. "Who are you kidding? You don't care and you know it. You never gave a shit about him until just now. How about you make that call to Henry, huh? How about you call and tell him his only kid is dead and you were a few steps away from stopping it? Would you like that?"

Lassiter seemed to visibly shrink a way from Gus' words.

"Yeah I'm sure it's a lot easier for you to deal with. He wasn't your best friend. You don't have to live with knowing that this hellhole was the last place he ever got to see. Or that you've lost two people in this disgusting place. You don't have to deal with the fact that in his last moments you were screaming at him."

"Guster you have to keep your head."

"Honestly Lassiter? I just don't care anymore." Gus could feel the spirit draining out of him. He couldn't even muster enough emotion to be angry or grieving anymore.

Lassiter actually looked a little concerned from the way Gus' tone had changed so suddenly.

"We have to go help O'Hara," he told him. "It's no use being up here."

Gus nodded and followed him down the door in the ground to find Juliet. He was lost in his thoughts when Lassiter turned to him. "Do you smell smoke?"

* * *

Shawn Spencer, beaten and battered, but very much alive, came to very groggily with his body hurting all over.

He took a breath to confirm he was indeed alive and had survived his little stunt. It was pained and it made his chest ache, but he could breathe and he was going to be okay.

His jump seemed to clear his senses a little bit and he became aware of how incredibly _stupid _his act had been.

True, he'd jumped off the tower to get rid of the uncontrollable longing that he'd been carrying with him all night, thanks to the lunatic Ingham.

His plan worked, although it could've gone horribly wrong. Like if the giant, protruding rafter that he was currently spread out on hadn't been able to hold him. Or if the lever couldn't open the one he'd had to release. Hell, the 20-foot drop could've hurt him pretty badly too.

_What was I thinking?_

But he already knew the answer to that question. He'd been thinking that it was the way to finally end the "spell" of the hypnosis. Ingham had plainly told him he wouldn't be able to escape it until he gave in. By the way the other victims' ended up, he didn't want to take the risk of not believing him.

So to prevent taking a risk, he had to take risk. That was just how the strange, twisted mind of Shawn Spencer worked.

Even though it had been somewhat of a last minute improv, it wouldn't have been impossible to let Gus in on what was happening. Shawn was going to pay for this one.

He'd also wanted to fool Ingham into believing he could happily rot in jail now that he had accomplished his goal of taking out his last victim. Maybe he'd admit to the other murders.

He knew what he had to do. Surprisingly, he had thought ahead this far. At the same time he noticed the levers under the top room of the bell tower could open and close the rafters, he noticed that pushing them open left a breach in the wall that a person could probably fit through.

Except his body didn't agree with this plan.

He tried to roll over toward the building, but everything hurt. The pain left him exhausted and a few moments later he tried again. It just wasn't working.

In his efforts, he looked over the edge of the rafter and felt a stab of fear at the thick darkness.

Fear. He didn't think he'd ever been so glad to be scared. He was afraid of the edge, he wasn't faced with the crazed desire to embrace it. He really had overcome the hypnosis.

He thought he heard something coming from his destination at the opening of the wall of the building. He realized it was the sound of someone coming down the trapdoor. He heard Lassie's voice.

A swell of hope rising in his chest, he desperately wanted to call out to them, but his voice failed and they were gone too quickly anyway.

Determined now, Shawn wasn't going to let anything stop him. It took a few more minutes and many more tries, but he finally succeeded in getting his body up to the opening. With much effort, he was able to none-too-gracefully slide into the room and onto the floor.

He'd done it. Now he had to find Gus, Jules, and Lassie. Which required moving, something he was _so_ not up to at the moment.

He pushed himself up to a standing position along the wall. He could walk, but he sure wasn't getting anywhere fast anytime soon.

But he'd get out if it killed him.

* * *

Lassiter and Gus had followed the scent of smoke downstairs to the kitchen where Juliet was standing, still hanging on to Ingham, looking frightened.

They saw that the whole kitchen area was up in flames that looked ready to take over everything in its path.

"O'Hara!" Lassiter called.

She turned. "Carlton! When I got here it was like this! I don't know how it started, all the other guys are where they were left!"

Lassiter seemed unsure of what to do as well. He wasn't a fireman, he'd never been involved in a fire, and the way O'Hara was looking at him like he had all the answers frustrated him. He would just have to think like a police officer.

"Come on get away from there! It's spreading fast! We have to get everyone out of here! I'll get the guy in the room over here, Guster you go with O'Hara to get the two in the other room."

They followed his instructions and disappeared. Lassiter entered the room where the huge man had been left, only to find that he wasn't there.

He was gone with Lassiter's handcuffs and that enraged him further. He realized what had happened. The wall he'd been cuffed to had started to burn away and once it was weak enough, the strong man was able to pull himself out.

There was no sign of him and Lassiter wasn't going to search around a burning building looking for him. It was made entirely of wood and would burn down quickly. It had overtaken a good part of the building and the smoke was starting to get to him.

He thought that he could hear the distant sound of sirens approaching and he hoped to God it was. He wasn't sure they'd be able to make it back on their own, especially with what happened with Spencer…

He covered his mouth and nose with his tie in attempt to keep the smoke away and started toward the door. The back of the building was already in flames by this point and he felt relieved when he bumped into Juliet and Gus at the front.

They weren't accompanied by anyone else either and he figured the same thing must've happened to them since the fire was at the back.

He told them to get to the car. It was chaotic after that, but they all did get outside and to the car. Lassiter was happy to be welcomed by flashing red and blue lights.

He looked around doing a reflexive head count and almost jumped when he noticed they were one short. Then he remembered.

Immediately Chief Vick was on him.

"Carlton! Are you okay, what the hell happened?"

Breathing fresh air hurt his lungs but he managed to respond. "There were problems as soon as we got here. Couldn't radio for help. Fire just started and we had to get everyone out."

"The fire department is on its way, we're taking the other man away now. Doctor Ingham isn't he?"

"Yeah. How do you –"

"We investigated the building further and found out that Ingham's son had been paying insurance for the building all along. We couldn't get an address and when we tried to reach you, we couldn't get through. We were afraid something was wrong and I'm glad we came."

"Me too." Lassiter, Juliet, and Gus answered at the same time.

He turned to look at them and saw that they looked disheveled. Especially Guster.

"Mr. Guster we can take you to a hospital in one of the cruisers, you look pretty bad," Vick offered. "All of you actually should go."

"No," Gus said firmly but distantly.

"And for God's sake where is –" she started, but was cut off by Henry.

"Where the hell is Shawn?" he demanded.

"You guys were with him last," Juliet said turning to them and making Lassiter and Gus stare into blank, questioning faces and try to answer a question they didn't want to tell.

* * *

Shawn smelled the smoke soon after he began his journey down the hallway to the staircase that would lead to his freedom. It also didn't take long for him to realize what had most likely started the fire.

The burning cigarette on the stove had been a fire hazard waiting to happen the first time he saw it. He just wished he'd had the sense to put it out then. Ingham had undoubtedly planned it.

The smoke was making it harder to breathe than it already was and he just wanted to stop. But he'd promised Gus that everything would be fine and he wasn't going to back down. Not when there would be so many movie references to make after this. That is, when he could talk.

He was at the stairs now and he eased himself down, keeping a tight grip on the railing.

_God, there were so many steps._

When he finally reached the bottom he knew he could do it. He pushed forward and out the door. He would get as far as he could before he collapsed, because it would absolutely _suck_ if he made it this far and they he ended up being left because they didn't see him.

He wasn't sure how close or how far he was when he finally fell, but he could've sworn that he never even hit the ground because his friends had caught him.

* * *

When he opened his eyes again, Shawn was afraid of what he might see. He'd woken up to such horrors in the past night that he didn't ever want to see again.

But before he was seeing, he could feel the difference. He wasn't in the asylum anymore.

_Oh yeah, I got out and collapsed, _he remembered.

But he couldn't keep his eyes closed forever. He'd have to take a risk.

_Haven't I taken enough of those tonight?_

His eyelids were heavy but they willingly opened and when his eyes focused, he realized he was lying down and staring up at Gus, his best friend, who was looking straight ahead with a worried expression.

He also noticed he was in a car. Lassie's car by the smell of it. He inhaled.

_Sweet coffee and fresh leather, mmm…_

He was safe. He was alive. And his head was… in Gus' lap?

"Gus," he breathed, "it's not that I don't love you, but this is just too weird, hopefully you agree."

Gus looked down at him, which increased the awkwardness ten-fold.

"Shawn?"

"Val Kilmer actually."

"Oh my God, you're okay! You're okay!" Gus shouted just in case people who lived in New Jersey couldn't hear.

He looked up again to make eye contact with the people sitting up front, who Shawn guessed was Lassie and Jules.

Shawn swallowed. It hurt. "I'm sorry Gus."

Gus looked appalled. "For what?"

Already he was feeling tired. His speech was slurring. "Shoulda let you know 'bout my plan to jump on the rafter. Never intended to go _splat_."

Gus sighed. "I'll forgive you. Don't ever do it again."

"Deal," Shawn said, and then added after some thought, "Did we get Ingham?"

"Hell yeah. That sick bastard."

Shawn smiled. "Good. But seriously dude, this position is really strange."

"Well there really wasn't another choice Shawn."

"Why aren't I in an ambulance?"

"There wasn't enough time to wait for an ambulance Shawn. We thought you were going to die!"

"Dude, my head is on your thighs, it's _weird_."

"So you'd choose death over laying on me? What's wrong with my thighs?"

"Nothing buddy, I just –" His breath hitched. He couldn't catch his breath for a second.

"Shawn?" his friend said, becoming concerned-Gus again.

"What's going on?" another voice demanded.

_Dad?_

"We're almost at the hospital," said a voice that sounded a lot like Shawn's favorite head detective.

Shawn found his breath again. "I'm 'kay."

Gus breathed a sigh of relief. It'd taken Shawn up until now to realize that his friend had been shaking.

"_This,_" Gus started, "is my worst Halloween ever."

Shawn smirked. "Second worst."

"What?"

"It's still my second worst Halloween ever," Shawn said sincerely.

Gus looked at him for a moment and then looked up. He brought his cupped hand to his mouth as if thinking about something and then turned to look out the window. Then he started to chuckle to himself.

Shawn had no idea why.

* * *

**A/N: Well there you have it! Obviously an epilogue will be on its way. Hopefully it'll be better than this semi-conclusion.**

**Review for an epilogue!**


	9. Epilogue

**A/N: Hello all… it's been a couple months…**

**I AM SO SORRY! This has been half written for the longest time and I can't apologize enough. Don't take it personally though, I haven't been on Fanfiction in months, it's unbelievable. I posted this because you guys deserve the epilogue I promised and before I hop back on the FF bandwagon I wanted to have this done. For anyone who read this story and still cares, this is for you. I'm sorry, but I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out! The good thing was, it was only the epilogue that was being delayed in posting so at least you all knew how the big parts of the story wrapped up! Like if anyone died or anything…**

**But I could kill them off now.**

**…wat.**

**Hey you never know! ;)**

* * *

Gus parked his car outside of the familiar building of the Santa Barbara Police Department. It had been nearly 24 hours since they had escaped from the asylum and been admitted to the hospital. Gus had a slightly fractured wrist and was given a small cast for it. Shawn had a mild concussion and was given a brace for his knee, which was causing him a lot of pain. The hospital wanted to keep Shawn all day to make sure he didn't have a more serious head injury and Gus had stayed with him the entire time. Henry had been there for a while, but later returned to work.

It was 11 o'clock the next night when the hospital finally told Shawn he could go home. But Shawn insisted that Gus take him to the police station to check up on the case. He hadn't heard anything from the department and he wanted to know what was going on.

Gus turned to his friend. "It's midnight and we're at the police station, are you sure you want to stop?"

"Yes, Gus!" Shawn said persistently. "I have heard zip from anyone about the case and I want to know what's happened."

"Everyone knows the dude's a psychopath, I think it's a fair assumption to say they've arrested him and he's going to jail for a very long time."

"If that was the case then it would all be over and people would've been at my bedside with flowers and pineapples a long time ago. Something's up, I know it."

"Fine," Gus said unbuckling his seatbelt. "I thought I was the one that worried."

"I'm not worried I'm merely concerned," Shawn said getting out of the car.

"They mean the same thing Shawn, don't you own a thesaurus?"

"What is that, a dinosaur?"

"Nevermind Shawn. Forget it."

Even with one leg injured, Shawn still kept his eager, spirited stride and lighthearted smile as the two walked into the police station. Gus felt a rush of endless gratitude toward his best friend and whatever higher power that had allowed Shawn to stay with him after that terrifying jump. Spotting Juliet, Shawn hobbled over with more energy than most people would care to do when their leg _wasn't_ causing them pain.

"Jules!" Shawn greeted as he approached her.

She looked up from the papers she was spilling herself over and her jaw dropped as she took in the sight of Shawn in front of her.

"Shawn?"

"I prefer Billy Bobbity-Boopenhiemer, but it just doesn't seem to be catching on."

"You got out of the hospital so fast! We figured you'd be in there for longer than this." She looked him over up and down as if to make certain he wasn't wearing a hospital gown because he'd escaped from the attention of proper medical care. Then she launched in to the questions. "So how are you? Does it hurt? What did the doctors say? Why are you here at this time of night anyway?"

"Swell. No. They asked if I had health insurance. Because I sensed something was amiss and no hospital can contain this – " He touched his middle finger and thumb to his temple and raised one side of his lip. "Not even the earthquake resistant ones." Juliet just looked at him.

"I can also sense that you haven't left since you arrived here to take our bad guy in last night," he went on. "And that the file you're pouring over is our case and if you don't mind, I'd just like to take a little looksie – " Juliet made a defensive move and turned the papers away from him with urgency. Shawn raised an eyebrow.

She relented and her expression turned guilty. "I'm sorry Shawn. I'm not going to just give you this. I'll explain. We were hoping this would wait till morning – we weren't expecting you." She ran a hand across her face.

"Jules," he said, gentler this time, "what is it?"

She made a motion for them to follow her as they went down the stairs toward the interrogation rooms. Shawn gave Gus a look that the faux-psychic would've called "concerned".

They entered the observing room to watch the people in interrogation room A. There were only three: Lassiter, a uniformed cop, and Ingham.

"Juliet – " Gus said looking back and forth between her and the interrogation room, "what is that guy still doing walking around in civilian clothes?"

"Can't find an orange jumpsuit in size extra-extra crazy?" Shawn suggested with a small, sad smile, though it was easy to see in his eyes that he didn't need psychic powers to grasp the reality.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a strait jacket," Gus said disbelievingly.

She looked at them helplessly. "Carlton will be out any minute. He can help explain."

"Why can't you answer us?" Gus said, bordering on angry now. Lassiter chose that moment to stand up suddenly from his chair and run a hand across his face the way his partner had done just moments before. He exited the interrogation room without looking back and joined them in the observation room.

"O'Hara – " he started before he noticed Shawn and Gus. "What are you two doing here?" he said with a blank look on his face.

"I missed you Lassieface," Shawn said turning toward him. "Those hospital people weren't much fun, and they didn't appreciate my inane references like I know you do way deep down."

The detective looked to his partner as if she was the one responsible. She just shrugged and said, "They found me. What was I supposed to do?"

Shawn looked between them. "What – what's the matter you guys were hiding from us?" He offered a weak laugh but there was still a trace of hurt and "concern" that was obvious.

Lassiter took a deep breath. "Spencer…" he started, "there's no easy way to say this. Ingham's charges won't stick. The only people that could be sent away are his accomplices who we have solid evidence on. The only firm proof we have on Ingham is that he used voodoo and other supernatural means on his victims. And that just won't hold up in court. This guy was smarter than we thought. There's virtually no way the charges will stick."

Gus was purely shocked. The man who had ripped someone very important from his life so many years ago and had almost succeeded in taking another, was going to walk away from this?

Shawn on the other hand, looked passive. In fact, he'd seen Henry get more upset losing a fish on one of their failed father-son fishing trips.

"This is ridiculous!" Gus exclaimed. "You've got to send him away! For life! Where he can't destroy any more lives! Do it now, I don't care what you charge him with, do something!"

"Gus, calm down," Juliet reasoned. "We tried everything, we're sorry."

"No you haven't tried everything! There's got to be something you can stick him with! He's a psychopath for God's sake!"

"That's exactly the problem," Lassiter said. "They've diagnosed him so mentally unstable that when he admitted to the crimes, he couldn't be held responsible for what he was saying."

"So…arson?"

All three of them looked over to Shawn who'd they'd nearly forgotten was with them.

"What?" Lassiter said.

"Arson. How did you arrive at arson?"

"I – we weren't even going to tell you about the possibility until we were positive the charges would stick. We just uncovered information about Ingham's house that had been insured all those years everyone thought it was abandoned. Ingham had almost no money in the bank and we're looking closer. How do you know?"

Shawn used his repeated explanation of lifting his fingers to his temple, although the action seemed much less enthusiastic than usual.

"Well I'm positive you're positive the charges will stick after you go upstairs. You'll know for sure and then you can tell me."

They were all still staring at Shawn in bewilderment when Gus went off again.

"Arson! A murderer caught on arson! That's almost as funny as Al Capone and tax fraud! I'm sure it's not enough to get him sent away for more than a few hours right?"

"He could be looking at a mental hospital and years –"

"Arson! I can't believe this!"

That's when Shawn stepped up. "Come on Gus, let's split." He pulled his friend lightly by the arm out of the interrogation room. Gus obeyed, even in his angry state.

They left the station without a word, and when they were finally in the car, looking out at the black night in front of them, Gus turned to Shawn.

"How did you know about the arson charges?"

Shawn gave a small smile without making eye contact. "Remember that germaphobic arson lady from way back when? Yeah I saw her strutting around looking all triumphant. You might not have recognized her, she's blonde now, much better color. I would've said hi but I didn't want that awkward hero/damsel in distress atmosphere feelings in the workplace again."

"Right. And how are you not infuriated by this? You know what that guy did just as much as I do."

Shawn shrugged. "You win some, you lose some, but you know what the best part is?"

"What?"

"You win some."

* * *

**Okay so no one died like I tried to make you think. Cheers to those who thought I was serious, I do love gullible people!**

**Well, thanks to those who took the time to read that last bit of this story! I know it wasn't worth the wait because I don't think any chapter is work that long of a wait, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Oh, and to anybody who knows the name of the arson inspector I mentioned from Earth, Wind, and Wait For It will get bonus points! (you'll all get bonus points. I have no idea what her name is, tell me anything and you'll be right)**

**The next thing I'm planning on writing is probably something Shassie that's being discussed with others, so if that's not you're thing, I just wanted to let you know! Thanks again and I promise to be better!**

**I'm asking way too much, but if you have the time, reviews make me happy!**


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